The present invention relates to a document management system and more particularly to a graphical user interface method and apparatus for assisting a user with the tasks of organizing and distributing documents.
With the rapid development of storage system technology, the cost of storing an image of a sheet of paper on digital media has become less than the cost of printing and storing the sheet of paper itself. Digital document storage also facilitates later electronic search and retrieval and raises the possibility of automatic filing of documents.
Systematic digital document storage requires scanning documents to create digitized document images which can then be stored, distributed and retrieved by electronic means. Scanning occurs constantly in the networked office environment in the contexts of copying and faxing.
These processes traditionally have simple push-button interfaces that enable the user to do little more than initiate the cycle of the scanning mechanism. The user must then indicate to the system using operating system commands or iconic representations a choice of medium upon which the electronic image is to be stored. For example, the user may indicate that a scanner incorporate an electronic image onto a diskette in the diskette drive of a computer attached to the scanner. Similarly, facsimile equipment can be attached to a computer that can store electronic copies of documents processed through the facsimile machine.
The distribution of documents can be greatly enhanced by providing a direct link from the image acquisition mechanism, be it fax machine, copier or scanner to the end users in a networked office environment. In a commonly owned co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/754,721, AUTOMATIC AND TRANSPARENT DOCUMENT ARCHIVING, inventors Jonathon Hull et. al. describe a method for achieving exactly this result.
However, further gains may be realized by making document management systems even more user friendly. What is needed is a graphical user interface at the image acquisition point of a document management system that enhances the user's ability to distribute electronic copies of document images processed by the system.